Thankfully, the 2024 Utah legislative session has ended. While good bills passed, others harmed vulnerable groups. Further, many of the bills comprise pieces of a puzzle that, as they come together, form a terrifying picture of nationwide efforts to replace our democracy with an autocratic white Christian nationalist theocracy — a reality too familiar to Utahns. Accordingly, I would like to shift focus from Utah to some of the broader national and global pieces of that picture.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruling was a gut punch. As the horrible impact of the Dobbs decision unfolds, it isn’t hard to see where granting personhood to frozen embryos will lead. Several Alabama fertility clinics have closed, stranding persons who desperately wanted a child. In all probability, other states will follow Alabama’s lead and SCOTUS will embed embryo personhood into national law — that impact will extend well beyond infertility clinics.

SCOTUS has also signaled willingness to rule on other cases with implications far beyond the immediate case. The legitimacy of FDA’s approval of the “abortion pill” (mifepristone) is one. More broadly, challenges to contraception, same sex marriages and other LGBTQ civil rights also seem likely. Voting rights, freedom of the press and free speech (think book bans) will increasingly come under attack, while “Second Amendment rights” will broaden. These decisions reflect the increasing politicization of SCOTUS, driven by the unprecedented circumstances under which President Trump appointed three ultra-conservative justices. Further, a picture has emerged of a corruption-plagued SCOTUS dominated by ideologues free of ethical constraints.

Project 2025 is a national coalition of 100-plus conservative organizations behind this effort. Its Mandate for Leadership Manual lays out four policy, personnel, training and playbook “pillars” to instruct his first 180 days of a second Trump administration. The following is a taste of their agenda:

“Finally, the next Administration will face a significant challenge in unwinding policies and procedures that are used to advance radical gender, racial, and equity initiatives under the banner of science. Similarly, the Biden Administration’s climate fanaticism will need a whole-of-government unwinding. As with other federal departments and agencies, the Biden Administration’s leveraging of the federal government’s resources to further the woke agenda should be reversed and scrubbed from all policy manuals, guidance documents, and agendas, and scientific excellence and innovation should be restored as the (Office of Science and Technology’s) top priority.”

The Health and Human Services chapter is especially appalling. Many policies, if implemented, would curtail abortion access further, limit research involving fetal cells and harm the LGBTQ community. Others would substantially alter the regulation of medical practice, Medicare and public health agencies such as the FDA and CDC.

Efforts to amend the Constitution by calling an Article V Constitutional Convention are also underway, Fortunately, that requires action by 35 state legislatures and any amendments must still be ratified by 38 states. Similarly, Article V does not elaborate on convention processes, creating ambiguity that will generate legal controversy. Regardless, the effort should not be ignored, as proponents are playing the long game and see this as a way to overturn social progress and deconstruct the federal government. Utah has powerful voices on board. Notably, each state would have one vote, thus effectively silencing the majority’s voice.

This is occurring alongside decades-long conservative/Republican efforts to control state governments — a reality we know too well in Utah. When successful, “red” states have led legislative gerrymandering and the rollback of a wide array of civil rights — e.g., the deep red South is essentially without abortion access.

Similarly, Congress is dysfunctional and unable to fulfill basic functions. Members who facilitated efforts to overturn the election on Jan. 6 have succumbed to Trump’s threats and are holding Congress hostage. Sadly, our system has prosecuted members of the Capitol mob but has not held Trump or congressional co-conspirators accountable.

Globally, wars in Ukraine and Gaza threaten world order. Ukraine’s failure, with congressional help, will embolden Russian plans to invade other European nations. Putin, also with congressional help, is already working to facilitate Trump’s election, further ensuring a green light. China and other despots will also feel enabled, including Iran, as it seeks to escalate Gaza into a regional conflict.

As noted, many of these efforts originate in white Christian nationalism, as illustrated by the U.S. speaker of the House‘s ties to those groups, the biblical and theological citations used to support the Alabama decision and, here in Utah, efforts to embed the Ten Commandments in school curricula (H.B. 269). While this doomsday scenario feels overwhelming, our only recourse is to unite, organize and fight at every level of the system to ensure that our voices can, will and are being heard. Vet candidates. Help campaigns. Speak up. Speak out. Vote for those who still believe in democracy and the freedom to worship according to our own consciences.

Ellen Brady, of Murray, is the issues director for the Women’s Democratic Club of Utah.

Newsletter